The EU has long neglected the building
up of a European demos, mainly on the grounds that it was not necessary, that
the EU could be based on the sharing of interests, could be merely an
"administrative state." To the extent that it paid mind to fostering a demos, it
was carried out by drawing on such inane measures as planting EU flags all over
the place and changing the license plates of cars. Student and scholar exchanges
were a bit more meaningful, but hardly did the trick. Most Europeans, these days
even the young ones, see themselves first of all as citizens of their nation,
not as "Europeans." Hence when the demands of the EU significantly clash with
the interests of their nation, they are willing to lend only rather limited
support to actions that would either rein in deviant behavior of member nations
or bail them out.
The contrast with
true communities is stark. West Germans contributed the equivalent of one
trillion dollars to the eastern parts, amidst some growling, but without much
delay. "After all, they are Germans." Once every few years some journalist will
point out that some American states, especially in the South, pay less federal
taxes but collect a higher share of federal expenditures than other states. In
response, most Americans shrug their shoulders: "We are all Americans."
If the EU is to
survive the current multi-faceted deficit challenge and others sure to follow,
it needs much more than a bunch of economic corrections and
institution-building. It must build up the European demos to a point where
members will not act in ways that threaten the community nor seek, in effect, to
raid the treasuries of the more responsible members in favor of the
irresponsible ones.
A good place to
start is to conduct EU-wide referendums on the same day in all the member states
on issues of great importance. For these referendums to get people involved, the
results must be binding for the entire EU and cannot be second-guessed by the
Commission or the EU Parliament. Good subjects are EU-wide policies concerning
the ways to deal with illegal as well as legal immigrants, the membership of
Turkey, the military involvement in Afghanistan, and ways to control nations
that show early signs of irresponsible economic behavior, rather than looking
the other way when they comply with limits on deficits by fudging the figures.
Such engagement in significant collective issues will make citizens of the
continent more European and less nation-bound.
Replacing the
low-profile, low-key, low-demos-building president and foreign affairs chief
with those who can speak effectively for Europe would also help. However, this
puts the cart in front of the horse. First, Europeans must engage in
consensus-building about their shared positions on key international
issues.
If no meaningful
demos-building takes place, the EU-and even the Euro-may well survive the
current crisis, although it surely will emerge from it wounded, with citizens
even more inclined to attend to their nation rather than to the larger
community. In the longer run, though, the severe demos deficit will force a
considerable scaling back of many EU endeavors.
The EU is now
trying to stand between two stairs, that of a mainly economic and administrative
union and that of a true, demos-based community. It is a rather precarious
position.
Amitai Etzioni is a University
Professor and a professor of international affairs at The George Washington
University and author of Political Unification Revisited (Lexington Books,
2001).
- 11
May 6, 2010
Olaf Theiler, Political Scientist, German Armed Forces, Platinum Contributor (173)
Despite the impression that there would be a something growing like a common European public identity resulting from a widespread anti-American atmosphere 2003-2005, the described trend of national was at least partly motivated by hopes to gain local votes - national votes.
This means that instead of leading their countries towards an always closer European integration like the old class of political elites in the Cold War, today's political class has become increasingly national in its way of thinking, its identity and action.
The only potential counterweight here could be a growing European demos as Amitai Atzioni described it. It might be the last and final hope for the idea of a United Europe that is able to overcome its war haunted past.